Huh...?

Say anything, and I do mean anything, to Evan these days and he will immediately respond with a "Huh?".

Me: Evan, what would you like for lunch?
Evan: Huh?

Me: Are you ready for our next adventure?
Evan: Huh?

Me: Good morning Evan.
Evan: Huh?

I'm not sure why or how this began, but it is driving me crazy. Like nails on a chalk board, I cringe every time I hear him utter it. Occasionally for effect he will also add: "What's that? I can't hear you." or "I no understand you." Did I teach him this? Pat is quick to say yes. Sadly, I probably did. However, in my defense, Evan talks a lot, all the time actually, (which by the way is not a Girvin trait) while I am eating, changing Eli's diaper, checking my email, driving the car, going to the bathroom it doesn't matter. Since he talks every waking minute, it is impossible for me to always give him my full attention, and sometimes I can't always understand what he says. So I must throw in a "huh?" now and again. If that is the case then I am on a mission to reform myself, and purge the word "huh" from my vocabulary - and hopefully Evan's too.

Evan or Eli?

I was looking through some photos of Evan at 4 months and I was struck by how much Eli looks like him at that age. Can you guess who's who?

weighing in

Eli went for his 4 month check-up on Thursday, where he weighed in at an impressive 16 lbs 5.5 ozs and 26.5 inches tall, which puts him in the 90th percentile for height, 75th for weight. In 4 months time he has grown 5 inches and nearly doubled his weight!

In addition to his impressive growth we learned that he has an "auxiliary nipple" (that's medical speak for a third nipple) and that his eyes are going to be brown.

His hair is still dark red, although less fuzzy than when he was born. Judging by his hairline, I think he is going to have a fuller head of hair than his brother. I also think that he is looking more and more like Pat everyday... but we'll see.

Physically he is getting stronger and his motor skills are improving. He has recently made a sport of rolling over. As soon as you lay him down on his back he immediately flips onto his stomach. This makes diaper changes a bit more work, but it is fun to watch him wiggle and squirm on his belly. He has also recently fallen in love with his Whoozit toy (which never interested Evan). He coos and giggles and screams with delight while he plays. He's a lot of fun to interact with and his giggles make my day. He watches his brother like a hawk - which could be trouble - but for now it is very endearing to watch a brotherly bond forming.

Rolling over...

Eli is really starting to become his own little person. He is entering a very fun and exciting stage of development. As a matter of fact, he rolled over for the first time today!

Last week I put him into his jumper for the first time and he loved it. He's not exactly jumping yet, but he seems to be getting stronger and more confident moving around and bouncing. It's fun to watch - and convenient. We keep it in the kitchen, so I can get things done without having to wear him in the Bjorn carrier all the time. Not that I mind, but he is heavy!!

He has also recently discovered that the best way to observe something closely is in his mouth. Fingers, rattles, thumbs, and his favorite toy - a little soft lion. I keep the lion on the little jumper tray where he then tries to suck on it while he bounces. Inevitably the lion falls and Evan comes running (often leaving the dinner table) to pick it up for him. "Here you go Eli." It's very sweet.

Eli for his part can't get enough of his brother. Whenever Evan talks to him he smiles and laughs, which delights Evan. In the car Eli almost always keeps his head turned toward Evan and watches him intently. As I see how sweetly they interact with each other I think, one day they are going to get into lots of trouble together...

Beach Love

The forecast had called for rain, but Sunday turned out to be a beautiful beach day. So we packed up the van and headed for Hampton for what turned out to be a fun and relaxing day. After we had settled in Evan and Dad made some excellent sand castles. Then we headed to the rocks to explore the tide pools. As we were looking at crabs and "waterfalls" and finding rocks to throw, a little girl came over to show us her snail. At first Evan didn't want to be bothered, but as she was imparting her wisdom of snail life cycles to me, Evan decided to greet her: "Hi!" he said "Wanna hug?". As I suppressed my laughter, the girl, clearly confused, looked at him blankly and then wandered off without a response. Unperturbed, my little Romeo found the perfect throwing rock and went on his way.

athlete extraordinaire

Anyone who has spent more than 1o minutes with Evan knows that he is quite coordinated for his age. At 34 months he is already a pretty good athlete, and his repertoire of skills keeps expanding. His latest is playing catch with his new kid sized baseball glove. The glove is a bit big for his hand, but it doesn't really matter. He can catch the ball if you underhand it from a short distance, and he certainly has no problem with the return pitch.

Tee ball is another favorite. A neighbor was giving away the tee ball set, so we walked over and grabbed it. It has turned out to be one of our greatest acquisitions ever. He can hit balls happily, and usually by himself, for long periods of time.

His current favorite game is called "hit the pitch". This involves one of us pitching a soft plastic ball that Evan attempts, and usually succeeds, to hit with his "indoor" baseball bat. I'm guessing here, but I'm willing to bet that I toss at least 100 pitches a day, probably more, and this does not include all of the pitches from Pat in the evening. The beauty of this game for me is that I can pitch while nursing, although I do occasionally have to duck or shield the baby from hard hit line drives. Just this afternoon I got beamed between the eyes, and poor Eli has also been hit once or twice by balls that have been deflected off things like the lamp, the picture frames, or the window. Nothing is safe when he is hitting. Thankfully the ball is very soft, and our living room is Evan proof.

Daddy's Little Helper

Evan woke from his nap on Saturday ready to help Daddy in the yard. Of course putting pants on was not an option. Pat was digging a new garden at the foot of the driveway. Because the area was covered in gravel the area had to be excavated several feet before the top soil could be added. So armed with his Elmo underwear and his purple beach shovel Evan climbed in to the hole to help daddy.
Once he tired of digging, Daddy sent him to water the garden. A job he loved. I mean what could be better than watering the garden in your underwear on a hot day? The one problem with his watering technique is that he forgets to move the hose. So if he's not reminded, one little basil plant will get several gallons of water and the thirsty zucchini plant will get nothing. And because he is stubborn, sometimes a gentle reminder to move the hose on to the next plant is met with a loud "NO!"; which illicits a threat to turn off the water, which in turn gets him to happily move on to the next plant. He's learning though...